U.S. New Home Sales Rise To Two-Year High In November

New home sales in the U.S. rebounded in the month of November, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Thursday, with sales rising to their highest level in over two years.

The report said new home sales rose 4.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 377,000 from the revised October rate of 361,000. The increase comes after new home sales fell by 3.5 percent in October.

Economists had been expecting new home sales to climb to 378,000 from the 368,000 originally reported for the previous month.

With the rebound compared to the previous month, new home sales reached their highest annual rate since April of 2010, when sales were boosted by a homebuyer tax credit.

The Commerce Department noted that the annual rate of new home sales in November is up by 15.3 percent compared to 327,000 in November of 2011.

The report also showed that the median sales price of new houses sold in November was $246,200, up 3.7 percent from $237,500 in October and up 14.9 percent from $214,300 in the same month a year ago.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale at the end of November was 149,000 compared to 147,000 at the end of October.

The number of new homes for sale represents 4.7 months of supply at the current sales rate, down from 4.9 months in October.

A notable increase in new home sales in the South contributed to the monthly increase, with new home sales in the region jumping by 21.1 percent.

New home sales in the Northeast also rose by 12.5 percent, while new home sales in the Midwest and West fell by 12.5 percent and 17.8 percent, respectively.